Manifestations
by BizzyLizzy
Summary: Takes place right after 'In the Line of Duty'. The NID carry out secret experiments on a mysterious alien hoping to use her as a weapon, will SG1 be able to solve the mystery and save her?
1. Part one

****

DISCLAIMER: The characters mentioned in this story are the property of Showtime and Gekko Film Corp. The Stargate, SG-1, the goa'uld and all other characters that have appeared in the series STARGATE SG-1 together with the names, titles and backstory are the sole copyright property of the people who made them up. This fanfic is not intended as an infringement upon those rights and solely meant for entertainment. All other characters, the story idea and the story itself are the sole property of the author.

**SPOILERS: **Singularity, In The Line of Duty

Manifestations

Part one

General Hammond looked up as an angry Colonel O'Neill stormed into his office without knocking and braced himself for what he knew was coming.

'Can I help you Colonel?' His voice was a touch frosty but did nothing to ease Jack's obvious irritation.

'I've just seen Dr Fraiser and Captain Carter,' Jack snapped, refusing to sit down at Hammond's invitation, towering over the seated General.

'Sit down Colonel,' Hammond said in steely tones, making it an order not a request and Jack, unable to help himself, obeyed the order. 'I'm afraid we have no choice, Jack.'

'Isn't it bad enough that they want Carter when she's still recovering from what that snake did to her, but Cassie as well? We can't let that creep get his hands on them, if we do that they'll be whisked away to some high security facility in the middle of nowhere and never see them again. Can't the president do anything?' Jack had gradually calmed down, but Hammond could see he was still tense.

'I've already spoken to the president and he's on Colonel Maybourne's side on this one,' Hammond explained. 'I did manage to get one concession out of him though. Maybourne has one week to carry out his tests and the rest of SG1, along with Dr Fraiser as Cassie's legal guardian, will be present.'

'It's better than nothing, sir,' Jack grumbled, reluctantly accepting the order. 'When do we leave?'

'A plane will be ready at 1500.'

'I guess we better go pack then.' Jack saluted sloppily and left the room.

XOXOXOX

Alysha stared wildly around as the world jolted then settled back down into the semi-familiar surroundings of the storage room. The footsteps that had been so close behind her had stopped and she allowed herself time to catch her breath as she tried to figure out her next move, taking a couple of steps to the end of the aisle to see what was going on. As she moved, lights began flashing and a siren sounded so loudly that it hurt her ears and she instantly squinted her eyes shut and covered her ears with her hands so wasn't aware of the danger until it was too late.

A number of soldiers wearing that unpleasantly familiar uniform had surrounded her, guns pointed directly at her. Too scared to try anything else, she crouched down and whimpered, fear-filled eyes darting around the faces focussed on her.

'Hold your fire, men,' one of them called out. 'It's just a kid.' He moved towards her and saw her flinch as he held out his hand to her. 'I'm not going to hurt you,' he said to her. 'I just want you to come with me and tell me what you're doing here.'

All he got in response was a shake of the head as she backed up against the shelving directly behind her, trying to make herself even smaller. Shrugging his shoulders, he turned around and beckoned for one of the female SF's to have a go, at the same time waving the rest of the guards further away.

'Hi, I'm Sandra, what's your name?' The guard asked her, crouching down in front of the frightened girl.

As Alysha heard the name her head jerked up before it went down again as she murmured 'Alysha.'

'Hello Alysha, that's a pretty name,' the woman continued. 'Can you tell me how you got in here?'

'Through the door,' Alysha whispered her fear gradually fading as she realised something had changed. These weren't the same guards as before, and although the clothes they wore seemed to be the same there were small differences. And these people didn't make her feel bad like those others had either.

'That one over there?'

'Yes.'

'Ok, well, this isn't a safe place for you to be,' Sandra smiled at her as she stood up. 'Will you come with me?' Alysha hesitated, still not entirely convinced that this was a good idea, but at last she reached out to grasp the hand held out towards her, clutching it tightly and trying to hide behind Sandra when the other soldier moved towards them.

'It's ok, sir, you go ahead and we'll follow,' Sandra said, feeling sorry for this kid in spite of the fact she had managed to get herself into one of the most secure facilities in the country without anyone seeing her. As the room cleared, she could feel the little girl relax slightly and allow herself to be led from the room.

XOXOXOX

'What have you got?' Colonel Maybourne asked in an extremely irritated voice as he entered, looking into the room beyond through the mirrored panel. 'It's a child!'

'This child, sir, just appeared in storage room seven alpha,' Captain Jeffries explained, knowing that his CO's irritation would disappear as soon as he knew what had happened. 'She doesn't show up on any of our security cameras, she just appeared in there and set the alarms off.'

'Seven alpha is where we keep the technology from Cheyenne Mountain isn't it?' Maybourne was definitely looking more interested now. 'Where exactly did you find her?'

'She was next to a slab of stone, sir.'

'Was she indeed?' Maybourne was lost in thought for a few moments, gazing into the room where the girl was sitting at a table, accompanied by a female guard. 'Who's that with her?'

'Sergeant Brown, sir. The child wouldn't respond to anyone else and seems to get jumpy when she sees someone different.'

'Has she been checked out by the doctors yet?'

'No sir, I wanted to let you see her first.'

'Good work, I'll take it from here. I'm also going to commandeer Sergeant Brown, I'll let you have the paperwork later.'

XOXOXOX

'Colonel O'Neill, nice of you to join us,' Maybourne greeted the new arrivals, working hard to keep his irritation with the other man hidden.

'Maybourne.'

Maybourne's eyes fell on the two people he was most interested in: Captain Samantha Carter, recently host to a goa'uld, although the SGC were convinced it was a good goa'uld, and Cassandra Fraiser, rescued from Hanka, a planet destroyed by Nirrti before attempting to destroy the Stargate by using the little girl as a weapon. He mentally rubbed his hands together in glee at the thought of all the information his scientists could get out of them, even though he only had a week and the rest of the gang had tagged along for good measure, including the girl's adopted mother who was even now watching him like a hawk, hovering protectively near her charge.

'Well, I guess there's no time like the present,' was all Maybourne said as he indicated for Sam and Cassie to precede him, Sam placing a protective arm around Cassie's shoulders. 'I'm afraid the rest of you will have to observe from another room.'

'But…' Dr Fraiser tried to protest, but was reassured by Sam.

'It's ok Janet, I'll keep an eye on her,' Sam smiled at her friend and walked with Cassie to the lab, fighting down the feelings of panic that were threatening to overwhelm her. Looking out for Cassie gave her something else to focus on.

XOXOXOX

Four days later, Sam stood up abruptly and began ripping the wires off her body, glaring angrily at the doctors who were trying once again to see how she responded to various stimuli.

'I've had enough of this,' she shouted at them, glaring through the mirrored window, her eyes almost boring through Colonel Maybourne who she knew would be watching along with her friends. 'You've been poking and prodding us for days now, asking us questions, submitting us to God knows how many tests - Cassie's only a kid and I'm not really interested in sticking around here any longer.'

Sam moved over to an alarmed Cassie, who was staring at her with round eyes and mouth, part of her wanted to giggle, but the other part of her was relieved that Sam wasn't going to let them carry on doing these tests. She missed her mom, her bedroom and her dog, even her school.

'It's alright honey,' Sam spoke soothingly to Cassie. 'I'm just going to get you free of these wires then we're going.'

'Sam…' Cassie's worried voice caught Sam's attention and she glanced over her shoulder in time to see Colonel Maybourne approaching.

'Captain Carter, General Hammond gave me a week to carry out these tests, it's only been four days,' Maybourne snapped at her.

'And?' Sam snapped back, her usual respect for the chain of command going right out the window under these particularly trying circumstances.

'And you still have three days before your week is up,' Maybourne looked slightly smug, not noticing Dr Fraiser and the remainder of SG1 who had followed him from the observation room and were gathered near the doorway, ready to leap into action should the need arise.

'You know something, Colonel,' Sam bit back at him, her face drained of all colour as she tried to keep the mix of emotions in check. 'I don't really care. You've had our full co-operation for three days, we've had no time to ourselves since we got here and we need a break. We are going to take that break now.' Giving him one last frosty look, Sam wrapped an arm around Cassie and escorted her from the room, sweeping past the others still staring in shock at this unexpected outburst from Sam.

As they headed towards the quarters they had been allocated for the duration of their stay, Janet caught up to the two of them in response to a silent agreement with the men of SG1.

'Sam?' Janet asked softly.

'Don't say or do anything Janet,' Sam said between gritted teeth, her back ramrod straight as she retained only a tentative grip over herself.

Janet nodded in response and continued to walk beside them, their speed picking up as they got nearer to their quarters, where Sam released Cassie into Janet's care when they reached the first door, letting herself into the room and shutting the door behind her.

'What?' Jack asked in a surprised tone, unable to figure out what was going on.

'One of you is going to have to deal with her,' Janet told him as she hugged Cassie close to herself. 'Cassie and I are going to sit down for a while.'

The next moment, Jack, Daniel and Teal'c were looking at each with bewildered expressions on their faces.

'Ok - so, do we toss a coin or what?' Jack asked flippantly.

'Jack,' Daniel said in warning tones.

'Alright, I was just kidding. Why don't you two go make some coffee or something,' Jack suggested. 'I'll catch you later.' When he was alone, he took a deep breath as he steeled himself to go in after Sam. He tapped briefly on the door and walked in, not waiting for a response. As he took in the sight in front of him, he doubted she had heard his knock anyway.

Sam was sitting with her back against the wall, her arms wrapped around her knees which were drawn up to her chest, her whole body wracked with sobs. Moving to the wall next to her, Jack slid himself down until he was sitting beside her. Hesitating for just a moment, he put an arm around her and that was all the encouragement Sam needed. Turning towards him, Sam buried her face in his shoulder, clinging to him as though he were the only thing stopping her from flying completely apart.

For several long minutes they stayed like this, Jack rubbing her back and making soothing noises. After what seemed like a lifetime, Sam pulled away from Jack but still retained her previous position, hugging her knees to her chest, comforted by the feel of her CO's arm still around her shoulders.

'Want to talk about it?' Jack asked mildly, looking down at her when she said nothing.

'I'm sorry about that sir,' Sam looked ashamed of her outburst. 'I guess everything just got on top of me.'

'No need to apologise, Carter,' Jack told her. 'It's perfectly understandable. You know, if it had been me in there I'd probably have shot the lot of them by now.' A curious sound from Sam made him glance into her face, relieved when he realised she had tried to stifle a giggle and wasn't going off into hysterics.

'It's just that this has all come so soon on top of Jolinar and I guess I'm still recovering from that. I felt so angry that our own people could subject a child to those tests, and so angry that they could put me through it all as well. I know I'm an air force officer, but if it had been one of them in my position, I'd like to see how they would have reacted.'

'It's ok, Captain, you don't have to explain yourself to me. I completely agree with you and if that asshole Maybourne tries anything, don't forget you've got me and the General on your side. Not to mention Dr Fraiser, Daniel and Teal'c. I'd like to see him go up against all of us.'

'Thanks sir,' Sam smiled weakly at him. 'I guess I keep forgetting how lucky I am to have you guys watching my back.'

'You bet.' They stayed where they were for a few more minutes before Sam made a move.

'I must look a real mess,' Sam said.

'Well, not a real…yes you do,' Jack agreed. 'Why don't you go wash up and I'll see if Daniel's got that coffee ready yet.'


	2. Part two

****

DISCLAIMER: The characters mentioned in this story are the property of Showtime and Gekko Film Corp. The Stargate, SG-1, the goa'uld and all other characters that have appeared in the series STARGATE SG-1 together with the names, titles and backstory are the sole copyright property of the people who made them up. This fanfic is not intended as an infringement upon those rights and solely meant for entertainment. All other characters, the story idea and the story itself are the sole property of the author.

Manifestations

Part two

'Sir!' The two doctors stood to attention as Colonel Maybourne entered the room, not so much out of respect, although being his subordinates that should have been the case, but because they knew he was in a particularly bad mood and that he was more than capable of assigning them to cleaning toilets if they didn't come up to scratch.

'What have we got?' Maybourne snapped, his patience sorely tested by earlier events. He might well fume, but under no circumstances was he foolish enough to go up against Jack O'Neill and his gang in a head to head to situation, it just wasn't his style.

'Well, the second two subjects aren't going to supply us with anything I'm afraid,' Dr Crispin said nervously, moving on hastily when he saw the Colonel about to explode. 'The first subject…well, I think we've got enough to keep us going for years. Here.' He directed Maybourne's gaze to a television screen and flicked a button on the remote and they all watched, Dr Crispin fast forwarding to give Maybourne an idea of what they were working with.

Dr Crispin approached Alysha with a needle to sedate her while they carried out some tests. Alysha, a wary look on her face, lashed out with her hand and the needle went flying across the room, even though the doctor was still several feet away from her. It had taken several more attempts for them to get the sedative into her, and even then, after they had attached her to various monitors, the readings went haywire as the focussed look on the girl's face told them she was somehow interfering with the electrical equipment. They had managed to get their readings only after the sedative had taken full effect and she had fallen asleep.

'We don't know what else she's capable of, but I suspect we've only scratched the surface.' Dr Read informed Maybourne.

'Excellent work, doctors,' Maybourne's smile sent a chill down their backs. 'Let me know what else you turn up. In the meantime, I think it's time I had a little chat with our child wonder.'

XOXOXOX

'Colonel.' Sergeant Brown stood to attention as Maybourne entered the room. This was the first time he'd visited Alysha although she knew perfectly well that he was the one responsible for what the child had been put through. Part of her automatically obeyed her orders, but part of her was really struggling with what was going on, feeling sorry for the little girl who seemed to be so lost and so alone.

'Sergeant,' Maybourne acknowledged her briefly before turning to Alysha and smiling at her. 'Hello Alysha.'

Alysha, who had been sitting at a table with some crayons and paper, stopped what she was doing and stared at the intruder, her eyes seemed to be staring into his very soul. Within moments, she leapt to her feet, knocking her chair over as she dived behind Sergeant Brown, the only person in this place who didn't seem to be a threat.

'It's alright, Alysha,' Sandra spoke reassuringly. 'This is Colonel Maybourne, he's the one in charge.'

Alysha reluctantly moved out from her hiding place but still clung to Sandra who manoeuvred her back into her chair, but remained right beside her.

'Can you tell me about yourself Alysha?' Maybourne prompted, wanting to find out as much as possible about this child, hoping that maybe once they knew where she'd come from, they may be able to find more people with similar powers. Alysha stared at him, saying nothing. 'How old are you?'

There was a long silence, until she eventually spoke in a very quiet voice. 'I'm Alysha, I'm ten. Everyone in my village died after they got sick.'

'I'm sorry to hear that. How did you get into the storage room?'

'Some men were chasing me. I went through the door, I was looking for somewhere to hide. Then the men had gone but some others came.'

'Did you touch anything when you were in there?'

'No. I did bump into a stone though.'

'I see.' Maybourne stood to leave, feeling it best if he tried to get more information another time. 'Well, thank you for your help. I'll come by and see you again.'

After he'd gone, Alysha turned troubled eyes to Sandra. 'I didn't like him. He makes me feel bad.'

'It's alright, Alysha,' Sandra did her best to reassure her charge. 'I'm sure it's only because you don't know him yet. Anyway, it's getting late, I guess we better clean this lot up and get you to bed. Come on.'

As they headed for Alysha's sleeping quarters, they could see a group of people ahead of them turning a corner. As they disappeared from view, Alysha suddenly felt cold all over as she saw something that had to be impossible and stopped dead in her tracks, her face white as a sheet.

'What's wrong?' Sandra asked, alarmed at her appearance.

'Who were those people?' Alysha whispered, almost afraid of the answer she would receive.

'They're just some other guests of Colonel Maybourne's,' Sandra told her. 'Why?'

'They had a girl with them.' Alysha stated.

'That's right, she's the adopted daughter of one of the group.'

'Do you know her name?' Her voice could barely be heard now.

'Uh, I think I heard them calling her Cassie.'

'Cassie!' Alysha started shaking as she repeated the name, Sandra, becoming alarmed, hurried Alysha to her room and settled her in bed as quickly as possible, before reaching for the phone to call one of the doctor's to take a look at her.

'I'm alright, Sandra,' Alysha forced herself to calm down, not wanting to give anything away. 'The girl reminded me of someone I used to know. I'm sorry I scared you.'

'You didn't scare me honey,' Sandra reassured her as she sat on the edge of the bed, smoothing Alysha's hair. 'I was afraid you might be ill. Are you sure you're alright?'

'I'm fine, just tired now. I think I'll go to sleep.'

'Ok, well you know I'll be right here if you need anything. Night.' Sandra shut the light off and sat on the couch in the outer room, her face troubled.

XOXOXOX

'No!' Cassie's screaming brought not only Dr Fraiser to her side, but the rest of SG1 as well. Hovering anxiously at the door, they watched as Janet hugged the shaking girl, trying to calm her down. After several long minutes, Janet was able to settle her and she quickly fell asleep again. Jack led the others back to the lounge where they were waiting for Janet when she emerged from Cassie's room.

'Is she alright?' Sam asked, voicing the concerns of the others.

'I think so,' Janet ran her fingers through her hair. 'She hasn't had nightmares for a while, but I guess in the circumstances it's hardly surprising that they're coming out again. She says she was dreaming of Hanka and the people she lost.'

'I'm going to get on to General Hammond first thing,' Jack said, barely keeping his temper under control. 'I'm pretty sure he'll back me up on this one - she's just a kid for crying out loud.'

'Thank you sir,' Dr Fraiser looked gratefully at the support she was getting, even though Cassie was as much a part of their lives as hers, it still meant a lot to her.

'You bet,' Jack acknowledged before rubbing his eyes and yawning. 'I guess I'll head back to bed.'

They hadn't been asleep long when Cassie's cries disturbed them, and after the third attempt as the sky began to lighten, they gave up all pretence of sleeping and sat around drinking coffee. After the last nightmare, Janet led a wan Cassie into the room where she ran to Jack and climbed into his lap, clinging on to him as though he were the only one who could save her from her bad dreams.

'What's wrong?' Jack asked, ignoring everyone else as he focussed solely on this frightened little girl who had come to him for help.

'I keep seeing her,' Cassie whispered, searching his face for the reassurance she so badly needed.

'Who?'

'My best friend.'

'Carla?' Jack referred to one of Cassie's friends from school, the two of them were rarely apart.

'No. Alysha.'

'I don't know her do I?'

'No. She's from my home. Jack?' Cassie hesitated.

'Yes?' Jack rocked Cassie gently, holding her closer when she said nothing else, waiting patiently for her to continue when she was ready.

'I think she's here.' Cassie's voice could barely be heard.

'She can't be,' Jack's voice was sharper than intended before he checked himself and continued talking in soothing tones. 'You were the only one left alive, you know that.'

'I know, it's just…I know she's here all the same.'

'Carter?' Jack looked to Sam to help him out. Sam moved to sit next to Jack and took one of Cassie's hands in her own.

'How do you know she's here?' Sam asked.

'I can see her in a room like this one, and there's a lady soldier with her,' Cassie informed them. 'The two doctors are with her and they keep trying to do all those tests on her like they did with us.'

'That happens sometimes, Cassie,' Sam tried to explain about the subconscious mind. 'When we dream, our minds try to make sense of what has happened during the day. It's your body's way of trying to cope.'

'No.' Cassie was definite, leaving no room for argument. 'I can feel her, I didn't just dream about her. I can feel her here.' She placed one of her hands over her heart. 'There were some other places I saw her as well, but I didn't recognise them.'

'Can you tell me about them?'

'It was a big room with lots of shelves. She was being chased by some men with guns, she hid behind a big stone, then the men were gone, but then she saw some different men with guns, and there was the lady soldier there as well. She was scared. She thinks they're going to hurt her and she's all alone except for the lady soldier who's looking after her. We have to rescue her, Jack.' Cassie looked appealingly at Jack, then at the faces of the others as she realised they were having trouble believing her.

'She's here and they're doing all those things to her that they did to me but she doesn't have anyone who can tell them to stop. We have to help her, please?'

'Tell you what,' Jack tried to reach a compromise. 'Why don't Teal'c and I take a walk and see if we can find anything out.' Cassie looked gratefully at him and hugged him before allowing herself to be lifted from his lap and placed next to Sam where she immediately burrowed her way under Sam's arm.

XOXOXOX

Jack looked over at Teal'c as he stood at full alert outside a door. Teal'c held up one hand telling Jack to remain silent while he leant closer to the door, listening hard before beckoning Jack over.

Five minutes later the two of them hurried back to their own quarters, not wanting to risk getting caught sneaking around. The look on Jack's face was enough to tell Cassie that she had been right, causing the girl to burst into tears, taking them all by surprise. Janet held her as she cried, calming her down until she was able to talk.

'I thought she was dead,' Cassie said, still hiccupping from her crying. 'They all died, you didn't find anyone else alive. How can she be here?'

Sam glanced at Jack for permission to tell Cassie about her theory, he gave a brief nod and Sam pulled Cassie onto her lap.

'Can you remember you told us about that big stone in the storage room from your dream?' Cassie nodded, confused. 'Well, that's a special artefact that can take people from one reality and send them to another.' Cassie looked even more confused and Sam searched around in her mind, trying to find the words that would explain to an eleven year old child how the quantum mirror worked. 'Ok, in our world, everyone on Hanka died except you and General Hammond is in charge of the SGC. There are lots of other places that look a lot like this one, but are different. Someone else is in charge of the SGC and maybe other people on Hanka survive. It's a bit like looking in a mirror and everything is back to front. Does that make sense?'

Cassie considered what Sam had told her, then slowly nodded.

'Good. Well, this artefact is in a storage room here, and it's possible that Alysha was the one who survived from her world, except there was no one like your mom to look after her, or us to look out for her.'

'And those men she was running away from wanted to do bad things to her and she had nobody to tell them to stop.' Cassie nodded, looking far wiser than her years. 'We have to help her.' She turned pleading eyes on everyone in the room.

'She's right Jack,' Daniel agreed with Cassie, earning himself a grateful look from her. 'It really doesn't matter where she came from, she's just a little girl and they've got no right to use her in their experiments.'

'I don't know Daniel, I mean maybe there's a good reason why she's here and not with a family.' Jack was more cautious, remembering the disaster that Cassie had nearly inadvertently caused.

'She's scared, Jack,' Cassie spoke softly, remembering how her friend had been in her dream. 'If she is being used like I was, she doesn't know about it. And you can help her.' Cassie spoke confidently, having utter faith in her adopted family to perform miracles if necessary.

'I agree, sir,' Sam also recalled how scared Cassie had been, and she had people who were looking out for her. 'We should get her out of here and sort out any problems later.'

'It is not right that a child should be used in such a manner O'Neill,' Teal'c had also jumped on the bandwagon. 'I will assist you in this mission.' Teal'c's face had a fearsome expression that made Cassie giggle, but reassured her that they were all on her side.

'Well…' Jack exaggerated a sigh. 'It looks like I'm outnumbered here. I guess we go for it then.' Nobody was fooled at this apparent reluctance to act, Jack was very protective when it came to kids and the decision had been a foregone conclusion as soon as he realised Cassie's dream had been something else. At this memory he frowned. 'Are you sure it was a dream you had Cassie?' Jack asked, turning more serious. 'It just seems a little odd that this all happened in so much detail.'

'Well…it did seem kind of real, but sometimes dreams are like that aren't they?'

'We can worry about that later, first, we have to figure out what we're going to do.'


	3. Part three

****

DISCLAIMER: The characters mentioned in this story are the property of Showtime and Gekko Film Corp. The Stargate, SG-1, the goa'uld and all other characters that have appeared in the series STARGATE SG-1 together with the names, titles and backstory are the sole copyright property of the people who made them up. This fanfic is not intended as an infringement upon those rights and solely meant for entertainment. All other characters, the story idea and the story itself are the sole property of the author.

Manifestations

Part three

Sam and Cassie were back in the lab with Dr Fraiser and Jack overseeing the experiments leaving Daniel and Teal'c free to take another look around and see what else they could find. Cassie was far more agitated than she had been previously and on more than one occasion one of the doctors had nearly let out a sharp retort, only the knowledge that they were under close scrutiny preventing them from doing anything rash. At last the morning drew to a close and they were released to make their way to the cafeteria for lunch. Daniel and Teal'c did not put in an appearance and Jack hoped they hadn't managed to get themselves in trouble.

It was not until they returned to their quarters at the end of the day and were sitting around playing cards that Daniel and Teal'c finally showed up, looking tired but triumphant, even Teal'c looked pleased with himself.

'Well?' Jack asked sharply.

'There are more labs further down this corridor and we located where the girl is being held.' Daniel informed them. 'She's got living accommodation similar to ours which is shared with a female sergeant who has primary responsibility for her well-being.'

'The sergeant does not appear happy at the treatment the child is receiving,' Teal'c added.

'What makes you say that?' Jack asked.

'Well, we were in the room on the other side of the lab in which the girl is being examined, and Sergeant Brown was protesting when the tests ran past lunch time. She spoke very politely, but she did manage to get the girl a couple of hours for lunch, and she also made them finish their tests early enough to give them some time before she would have to go to bed. We followed them back to their quarters to find out where they were.'

Cassie leapt up and gave Daniel a hug, then did the same for Teal'c, her unspoken thanks for what they had been able to find out.

'So how do we get her out?' Cassie, sitting back beside her mother, looked trustingly at her 'family'.

'We have to do something tonight,' Daniel announced. 'We leave tomorrow and we won't get another chance.'

'It will not be difficult to take the child from her room but we will experience great difficulty in leaving the building,' Teal'c advised them.

'Ok - anyone else got any ideas?' Jack looked around the room.

XOXOXOX

'Will you please sit still,' Dr Crispin snapped at Cassie again. She had been extremely fidgety all morning and had been asked countless times to co-operate. Sam wasn't helping either. She was doing what she was told, but her grim face had the doctors tip-toeing around her, afraid she might blow up at them again.

In the observation room, Maybourne turned to Dr Fraiser who had only been accompanied by Daniel this morning.

'What's going on? This is your last day, the least they could do is make it easy on themselves and us.'

'Why?' Daniel asked, putting him on the spot.

'Because that's why they're here, Dr Jackson,' Maybourne spoke condescendingly. 'Where are Colonel O'Neill and Teal'c anyway? I didn't think Jack would let those two out his sight.'

'Teal'c said something about cherry pie in the cafeteria today. He's seen it in just about every TV show he's watched and Jack finally got fed up with him talking about it and took him to get some.' Daniel smiled briefly before he resumed watching what was taking place in the lab.

Half an hour later, Dr Fraiser wrinkled her nose and sniffed loudly.

'I can smell smoke,' she announced, just as the smoke detectors went off, signalling that the area should be evacuated. In a flash, Janet and Daniel were in the lab disconnecting Sam and Cassie from the monitors before hurrying to the nearest exit. Maybourne raced in the opposite direction through a stream of people making their way to the fire exits, the smell of smoke getting stronger as he got closer to the secure area where Alysha was being held. As he reached the doors leading to his destination, he was faced with two SF's coming through them, preventing him from continuing into the area.

'Let me through, sergeant,' Maybourne snapped.

'I'm sorry sir,' came the response from an SF who was exasperated by the number of scientists who felt their experiments warranted them remaining behind in a burning building. 'This area is clear of all personnel, we can't allow you to go in there. Please, make your way to the nearest exit.' Maybourne made a move to push past him, but the SF's stood their ground.

'Sergeants, unless you want…' Maybourne began to threaten them when a click alerted the SF's to move away from the doors, stopping Maybourne in mid sentence as a fire barrier dropped down, sealing off the area beyond.

'Get that door open,' Maybourne hissed angrily.

'I can't sir,' the SF informed him. 'The lab areas down there have a toxic sprinkler system that kicks in automatically - once the fire doors are closed, the area is locked down automatically for twenty four hours until the ventilation system has had chance to clear the air.'

'You're certain that everybody got out?' Maybourne glared at the SF's.

'Yes sir. If you're looking for someone, your best bet is to go to the assembly point. Now please, make your way to the exit.' Not allowing for any argument this time, the SF's swept Maybourne along with them as they evacuated the building.

XOXOXOX

'Where is she?' Maybourne stalked over to where Jack was trying to calm down a hysterical Cassie, Teal'c standing watch over them, scaring away anyone who looked like they might want to find out what was going on. Although it didn't quite work on Maybourne, he did calm down a little.

'To whom are you referring?' Teal'c asked, his face inscrutable as always.

'You know exactly who I mean,' Maybourne snapped, a little less sure of himself now.

'Harry, why don't you just go play with traffic,' Jack spoke icily, his attention still focussed on Cassie who clung to him even tighter as she became aware of Maybourne's presence.

'Where are the others?' Maybourne changed tack as he realised half the group were missing, his mind on full alert that something was definitely going on.

'Daniel Jackson was affected by the smoke from the fire. Captain Carter is driving him to the hospital with Dr Fraiser.' Teal'c informed him.

'What's wrong with our own medical facilities?'

'The medical personnel have all been evacuated because of the fire. Daniel Jackson required treatment which Dr Fraiser believed could best be acquired from the hospital.'

'Yes,' Maybourne sounded extremely suspicious but let it rest and turned to Jack again. 'I have located alternate facilities to complete the scheduled tests, so if you would just follow me…'

'You have got to be kidding?' Jack said, his voice tightly controlled. 'We were due to leave this afternoon anyway and I think we've done more than enough to help you out. We're going to collect the others from the hospital and then we're leaving. Is that understood?'

'But…' Maybourne tried to protest but at that point Cassie, who had calmed down a little, began crying harder, her shoulders shaking as she gripped Jack's shirt, soaking it with her tears. Jack patted her back soothingly as he said slowly and clearly.

'We are leaving now. Is that clear enough for you?'

'Fine,' Maybourne finally acknowledged. 'But if I find out that you've got anything to do with my missing experiment…' He left the sentence unfinished, trying to give his words more weight.

'Harry, did anyone ever tell you that melodrama just doesn't cut it with me? Goodbye.'

XOXOXOX

'Cassie?' Jack said softly as he realised the tears she had been pretending to cry were now for real. 'What's wrong honey?'

'Nothing.' Cassie mumbled as she continued to sob.

'Uh huh.' Jack waited for the explanation that he knew would follow any moment.

'It's just…' Cassie hesitated, not sure how to explain herself. 'Everything that's happened - the tests, seeing Alysha, the fire…'

'I know,' Jack continued to hold her securely, offering her reassurance just by his familiar presence. 'Things have been kind of rough haven't they? It's ok to feel like this though.'

Teal'c shielded his two companions to prevent any unwanted attention, glancing behind him when he realised Cassie had calmed down at last.

'Can we go home now?' Cassie turned pleading eyes on Jack and Teal'c.

'Sure - after we collect the others from the hospital. Come on - we are so out of here.'


	4. Part four

****

DISCLAIMER: The characters mentioned in this story are the property of Showtime and Gekko Film Corp. The Stargate, SG-1, the goa'uld and all other characters that have appeared in the series STARGATE SG-1 together with the names, titles and backstory are the sole copyright property of the people who made them up. This fanfic is not intended as an infringement upon those rights and solely meant for entertainment. All other characters, the story idea and the story itself are the sole property of the author.

Manifestations

Part four

As he drove towards the hospital, Jack was glad that he had planned for the possibility of being tailed. Frequent glances in the mirror revealed two cars playing hopscotch with each other, but at all times one of them was a couple of spaces behind him. Grinning, he decided to have a bit of fun with them.

Taking a sharp left into a side street, he raced to the end and then took a right and continued to alternate with left and right turns until he had managed to lose both cars. He then pulled back on to the main route and followed the signs to the hospital where he was greeted with the sight of both cars racing up behind him, slowing right down as soon as they saw him turning in. Grinning widely, he waved at them before sliding into a parking space, hoping this would have put them off the scent.

XOXOXOX

When SG1 plus Janet and Cassie came out of the hospital entrance half an hour later only one of the cars remained, apparently satisfied that Jack had gone where he said he was going. Jack didn't relax his guard however, being fully aware that a second, third or even more cars could be made available in response to a single call from the one car left behind.

Ignoring the car they had arrived in, leaving it for someone from the base to collect later, they climbed into two waiting cabs which promptly raced away from the hospital, the car tailing them following close behind, figuring that as they knew they were being followed there was no point in hiding any more.

After five minutes, one cab took a different turning and while their tail continued after the first cab, he hastily spoke into his cell phone to call for backup. In due course, the first cab pulled into Nellis and Jack, Sam and Cassie got out, heading straight towards an aircraft waiting to take them back to Peterson air base and the SGC. They were intercepted by an irate Maybourne who had been alerted by constant updates as to the progress of Colonel O'Neill and the others.

'Jack,' Maybourne greeted them, a false smile plastered on his face. 'Nice to see you again so soon. Where are the others?' He looked around, hoping to see the second taxi pulling up.

'Not here.' Jack replied abruptly, not slowing down at all.

'How's Dr Jackson?' He tried another avenue of enquiry. 'I do hope he's not too ill?'

Jack resisted the urge to hit Maybourne, giving him a tight smile as he responded without slowing down. 'He's going to be just fine. Dr Fraiser didn't want to risk aggravating his allergies so she's driving back to the base with Daniel and Teal'c.'

'That will take hours - wouldn't it be better if you stayed here until Dr Jackson is fit to travel with you?'

'I don't think so.' Jack stopped abruptly and turned to face Maybourne. 'Let me make myself clear. We have had enough of your interfering to last a lifetime. Unfortunately I don't think we'll be lucky enough to get away with never seeing you again, but in the meantime, why don't you just crawl back under whichever stone you came from and leave us alone. I don't think any of us wants to stay here longer than we have to, and when I gave Daniel the option of staying here a while longer he was extremely clear that he would rather endure a fifteen hour drive than stick around you any longer than he had to.' Saying nothing further, Jack ushered Sam and Cassie ahead of himself into the plane and ten minutes later they left.

Maybourne, ignoring Jack's words, smiled softly to himself as he realised Jack had given himself away. In order to get back to Cheyenne Mountain in fifteen hours there was only one route the others could have taken. His men had not been able to find the other cab as yet, and he assumed they weren't planning on going all the way to Colorado in a cab and would therefore be switching cars at some point, but now he would be able to send his own cars in the right direction and sooner or later they would find them and make sure there wasn't anything untoward going on.

He headed back toward his waiting car, his frustration at the delay in getting back into the lab lessened slightly. He wasn't entirely convinced that Sergeant Brown and Alysha had died in the lab, and if they had somehow escaped then he was certain SG1 had something to do with it. He knew that the three on the plane were unaccompanied by any additions to the party, that left Dr Jackson, Teal'c and Dr Fraiser - and he had no intention of letting the matter drop until he was satisfied that they too were by themselves.

XOXOXOX

'It should be around here someplace,' Daniel was studying the map Teal'c had handed to him as soon as they had got into their hire car. 'Yup, that's it just there on the right.'

Janet, carefully keeping an eye on the deserted road behind her, pulled into the motel as directed by Daniel. Leaving the other two in the car, Janet approached the desk clerk, trying to avoid grimacing as she spoke to him.

'I'm looking for Lisa Simpson, can you let her know I'm here please - Patty Bouvier.' Janet hoped that the clerk wasn't a Simpsons fan as that would give them away in a moment, but the elderly woman behind the desk merely picked up the phone and spoke in a bored voice before turning back to Janet.

'Number 73, dear. Around the corner and right at the end. She's waiting for you.'

Glad that was over, and cursing Colonel O'Neill under her breath, she got back in the car and headed in the direction indicated.

'What's wrong?' Daniel looked at Janet as she continued muttering to herself.

'Whose idea was it to leave the names to Colonel O'Neill?' Janet snapped. 'You should have known he would have gone for something stupid - Lisa Simpson and Patty Bouvier?'

'There wasn't exactly a lot of time, and anyway, motel clerks are used to hearing made up names, must make a change from Mr and Mrs John Smith.'

'I guess. Anyway, here we are.'

Daniel knocked on the door, then again, then repeated the same sequence of knocks for a third time. The door was cautiously opened, the chain providing some level of protection and at last was opened when the person inside saw Teal'c.

'Sergeant Brown, Alysha, I am pleased to see you are both well.' Teal'c bowed gravely as he acknowledged the presence of the two people in the motel room. Alysha was peering out from behind the bathroom door, cautiously emerging when she saw a face she recognised but scooting behind Sandra when she also saw two unfamiliar faces.

'This is Dr Fraiser and Daniel Jackson,' Teal'c performed the introductions. 'They are friends and will not harm you. Colonel O'Neill has made arrangements for your safe transport to Cheyenne Mountain where we can provide you with further assistance.'

'Thanks,' Sandra said nervously. 'What happens now?'

'Well, we picked you up some clothes, we figured you'd blend in more wearing something other than military fatigues, then we head for McCarran airport and get a flight to Denver, Colonel O'Neill is arranging for someone to pick us up at the other end.' Daniel smiled as he finished speaking and Sandra accepted the bag handed to her, leading Alysha into the bathroom to change.

While the other two were changing, Daniel handed out sandwiches and drinks, passing some to Sandra and Alysha when they emerged from the bathroom after a surprisingly short time. Alysha was still clinging to Sandra's arm but her eyes lit up as they fell on the food, snatching her sandwich and bolting it before anyone could take it away from her. She sniffed suspiciously at the bottle of juice but then drained that in one go, this all before Sandra had barely unwrapped her own sandwich. Now that her initial needs were satisfied, Alysha was content to observe what was going on.

It had all been so confusing, and although Sandra had told her that these people were helping them and they didn't feel bad like those others had, she was still overwhelmed by all that had happened and this world seemed so strange compared to her own home.

'Sergeant Brown,' Daniel spoke first.

'Sandra,' she interrupted. 'Please call me Sandra - it's what Alysha is used to hearing and may make her feel more comfortable around you.'

'Ok, Sandra,' Daniel tried again. 'Are you sure you want to go along with us? It's not too late to salvage your position at the base.'

'I don't think I want to go back there.' Sandra frowned as she recalled some of her experiences there. 'It's not the best place for someone to be posted if they have scruples. I'd only been there a couple of months and I don't really know what goes on but I do know that odd things have been happening and people behave very strangely. I'll resign if I have to but I'm not going back there.'

'Good,' Daniel smiled at her. 'In that case, I guess we better get going. They're going to find out sooner or later that you two weren't in that fire and we want to be in the safety of Cheyenne Mountain before that happens.'


	5. Part five

**__**

DISCLAIMER: The characters mentioned in this story are the property of Showtime and Gekko Film Corp. The Stargate, SG-1, the goa'uld and all other characters that have appeared in the series STARGATE SG-1 together with the names, titles and backstory are the sole copyright property of the people who made them up. This fanfic is not intended as an infringement upon those rights and solely meant for entertainment. All other characters, the story idea and the story itself are the sole property of the author.

Manifestations

Part five

Teal'c carried the sleeping Alysha off the plane once they'd arrived at Denver, Sandra hovering nearby in case she woke and became confused. As they had arrived at McCarran airport, Alysha had become hysterical at the giant machines flying so low and were so noisy and threatening. No matter how much Sandra had tried to calm her down, Alysha would not settle so Janet had to resort to administering a mild sedative, which Alysha was still sleeping off.

As soon as they arrived in the arrivals terminal they were spotted by Jack and Sam who quickly headed towards them.

'Glad you made it, we were getting a bit worried,' Jack said briefly. 'Good trip?'

'Yup, no problems, except Janet had to sedate Alysha,' Daniel reported. 'She freaked when she saw the 'planes and that was the only way we could get her on one.'

'How's Cassandra?' Janet asked as soon as she could, worried for the well-being of her adopted daughter.

'She talked non-stop on the flight back, mostly about Alysha and Hanka,' Sam smiled reassuringly at Janet. 'She was pretty much worn out by the time we got back to the base so I put her to bed in one of the VIP rooms with someone keeping an eye on her.'

They headed towards the exit where two vehicles were waiting for them, Major Ferretti at the wheel of one and Colonel Makepeace in the other.

'Jack?' Daniel asked, curious as to why the leaders of SG2 and SG3 were here as drivers.

'Just a precaution, Daniel,' Jack said in an off-hand manner, even as his eyes were scanning the area to make sure their arrival had gone undetected. 'Maybourne may be a jerk but he's not stupid. I've brought General Hammond up to speed and although he's not happy about this,' Jack grimaced as he recalled his interview with the General, 'he's agreed to make sure Alysha gets to the SGC safely. Ok, Sergeant Brown, Alysha and Teal'c are with me, the rest of you can go with Ferretti. See y'all in Kansas.'

Moments after the two vehicles had departed a black car also left the airport, not getting too close and allowing five or six other cars to stay between him and the vehicles he was following.

XOXOXOX

They'd been on the road for two hours when the second car swerved violently, Ferretti fighting the wheel to bring them to a safe stop before he jumped out, cursing as he kicked the flat tyre. A little further up the road, the car driven by Makepeace pulled over as well. Makepeace started to walk towards the other car when a shout from Jack brought him to full alert. A black car came hurtling around the corner from the opposite direction and screeched to a halt in front of the first car. Four men were out in an instant and surrounding the occupants, Jack could see Sergeant Brown covering Alysha, shielding her from whatever was going to happen.

With Teal'c on one side of the car, Jack on the other and Makepeace bringing up the rear, the four men continued advancing, pulling zat guns out as they advanced. Jack could hear a whining noise and knew the zats were being activated but leant casually against the car door, facing up to the men.

'Howdy there, fellas,' Jack greeted them in a deceptively calm voice, concealing his readiness to spring into action. 'Can we do something for you?'

'Stand aside and no-one will get hurt,' the man in front said, his colleagues flanking him menacingly.

'Oh please,' Jack jeered. 'Don't you think this is a bit of a cliché? Why don't you just take your black suits and your black car and run along and find someone else to intimidate. This whole performance just seems to lack a certain finesse, if you get my drift.'

'Hold your position or we will fire,' the man repeated, this time including the group approaching from the other car. Jack glanced quickly behind him and saw the second group had stopped in their tracks.

Jack took a step forward, his hands raised and continued walking forwards until he was standing in front of the man who appeared to be in charge.

'Look, we don't want any trouble, we just want to fix the tyre and be on our way.' A blue light surrounded Jack, muttering 'Oh crap!' as he crumpled to the ground. Instantly Makepeace was standing in front of the door Jack had left unguarded, seeing out of the corner of his eye that two faces were peering through the window.

'Anyone else want to try?' The man asked, holding his zat gun in clear view, inviting further attempts to resist. 'Ok, in that case…' He walked towards the car, the other three following him while maintaining a close watch on those likely to offer up any resistance. As he stood in front of Makepeace, he waved the zat at him, indicating for him to move out of the way. When Makepeace stood his ground, the gun was aimed and activated, but instead of the blue lightning coming from it, nothing happened. He tried again, when it still didn't work he fell back a few steps and waved one of his friends forward who had no greater success.

Looking at the now advancing SGC personnel, the last two zats were also tried and also failed, but it was too late. After only a short struggle, the four would-be abductors were secured and seated alongside their car to wait for the arrival of help, a long wait most likely as it was now late and the road wasn't well frequented.

Sam, examining one of the zats, was trying to figure out what had gone wrong. It had worked the first time, Colonel O'Neill was evidence of that as he was helped to his feet, and there was absolutely nothing wrong with it, as she discovered when she aimed at a passing rodent and hit it, causing it to keel over and lie twitching.

'Oops!' Sam exclaimed as she realised what she had one. 'Sir, there's nothing wrong with the zat, it's working perfectly normally.'

'So I see,' Jack said dryly as he watched the rodent, which was now starting to come round and showing signs of agitation. 'You're going to have to work it out later, Carter, our priority now is to get back to the SGC pronto. We'll go ahead and get Alysha to safety, follow on as soon as you can.'

Half an hour later, only the black car was left with its four black-suited occupants working to release themselves.

XOXOXOX

SG1, Sergeant Brown and General Hammond were seated in the briefing room, waiting for news from the infirmary. Shortly after they had arrived at the SGC, Alysha had passed out and her breathing had become laboured, now Dr Fraiser and her team were working hard to stabilise her condition. While they waited, Hammond turned to SG1 for some explanations.

'You do realise that Colonel Maybourne has barely been off my back since you absconded with Alysha. Now I want some explanations.'

'Well sir, Cassie dreamt about one of her friends from Hanka, that she was being held by Maybourne, so Teal'c and I went to investigate. We found Alysha being held in the same facility that we were staying in and got the impression that she was being subjected to some very unpleasant tests - probably the tests they really wanted to carry out on Carter and Cassie. Anyway, we figured that Alysha wasn't exactly happy at this situation so we engineered the situation so we could get her out of there. Turns out she is Cassie's friend after all.' Jack briefly described the circumstances surrounding the incident.

'I thought everyone had died on that planet?' Hammond looked puzzled.

'Yes sir, they did,' Sam jumped in. 'Sergeant Brown may have an explanation though.'

'Go ahead Sergeant,' Hammond turned to the silent newcomer.

'I was on duty two weeks ago when the alarms went off in storage room seven alpha and we found Alysha standing next to a stone slab. When the security cameras were checked, there was no sign of Alysha entering the room.' Sergeant Brown paused, tiredness and the stress of the situation only now beginning to take its toll as the adrenaline she'd been surviving on for the last few days began to subside. 'Colonel Maybourne seemed to think it was significant, but I'm not sure how. He arranged for me to be transferred to his own command as I was the only one who could get Alysha to co-operate. I'm beginning to wish I hadn't been involved now.' She looked around, suddenly worried that she'd said the wrong thing.

'I don't know, Sergeant,' Jack drawled casually. 'You've done a pretty good job of protecting her interests as much as anyone could in the circumstances. If you hadn't been there and acted as you did, who knows what she could have been put through?'

'Thank you, sir.' Sandra acknowledged the comment, her voice very quiet now.

Hammond opened his mouth to speak when the lights flickered briefly before plunging them all into darkness, the back up systems taking a few moments to kick in. The next instant, alarms were sounding and a request for assistance in the infirmary.

As one, the occupants of the briefing room were on their feet, Sergeant Brown, still unfamiliar with the layout of the SGC, tagging behind the others, her presence forgotten for the moment.

As they reached the infirmary, Dr Fraiser was outside sending the gathered SF's away.

'It's alright, gentlemen, everything is under control now.' Fraiser, seeing General Hammond and SG1 at the back of the group, beckoned them forward, leading them in to the infirmary while the security personnel dispersed.

'What's going on here?' Hammond asked, looking around to see what caused the alarm.

'I'm not sure, sir,' Fraiser said. 'Alysha woke up and panicked when she didn't know where she was. Soon after, the lights went off and the equipment all went haywire - the nurses were running around trying to make sure the critical patients weren't being affected, then once Alysha recognised me, everything seemed to go back to normal.'

A small sound from the back of the group drew attention to Sergeant Brown.

'You have something to add?' Hammond asked her.

'Well, something similar happened back at Area 51. The electronic equipment seemed to stop working when Alysha was fighting what they were trying to do to her. They had to sedate her before they could do any tests.'

'What about the zats, sir?' Sam remembered the incident with the NID earlier. 'When the NID tried to fire them, they wouldn't work. No wonder Colonel Maybourne was so interested in her.'

'We don't know anything for sure, Carter,' Jack interrupted Sam before she could continue expanding her theory.

'We know that Colonel Maybourne was holding Alysha and carrying out experiments on her. That seems to be evidence enough that there's something unusual about her.' Sam defended her ideas.

'Maybe, but I just think we should wait until we've got more proof before jumping in with both feet.'

'Nothing is going to be happening any time soon, I'm afraid,' Dr Fraiser spoke up. 'Alysha has been through a pretty tough time recently and we didn't bring her here just to undergo more intrusive tests. I'm hoping that she'll be willing to help us out when she's feeling better. She should sleep through the rest of the night, you can speak to her in the morning if she's up to it. Good night.' Janet spoke with a finality that had those not belonging to the infirmary half way out before they even realised. Janet caught Sergeant Brown by the arm before she too could leave, nodding at Sam to indicate she would look after the Sergeant.

'Yes doctor?' Sandra asked politely.

'How are you feeling?' Janet asked, her eyes searching Sandra's appearance - the pale face, the shaking hands and the bloodshot eyes with dark shadows underneath them.

'I'm fine, a bit tired, but I'm sure a good night's sleep will sort me out.' Sandra smiled wanly at the doctor, not wanting to be a bother to anyone.

'Well, seeing as you're here, I'd like to do a quick medical,' Janet smiled reassuringly at the other woman who was looking worried. 'It's ok, it's just routine for anyone working here. Now, just hop up on the bed over there and put this gown on.'

Half an hour and an armful of blood later, Sandra was settled, protesting all the way, into one of the infirmary beds.

'You're exhausted physically and mentally,' Janet insisted. 'And you seem to be a little anaemic. Besides, I'd like you to stay anyway as Alysha knows you best and if she does wake up, there'll be a familiar face here.'

At this last statement, Sandra caved in and was soon fast asleep.


	6. Part six

**__**

DISCLAIMER: The characters mentioned in this story are the property of Showtime and Gekko Film Corp. The Stargate, SG-1, the goa'uld and all other characters that have appeared in the series STARGATE SG-1 together with the names, titles and backstory are the sole copyright property of the people who made them up. This fanfic is not intended as an infringement upon those rights and solely meant for entertainment. All other characters, the story idea and the story itself are the sole property of the author.

Manifestations

Part six

'Let me go!' Sandra was woken from a very deep sleep by the sound a child screaming and crying. 'Let me go!' As she leapt out of bed, Sandra realised Alysha had woken in the night and, not knowing where she was, attempted to find out only to be stopped by an SF outside the infirmary. From the sounds of it Alysha was fighting like a wild cat, her recent experiences making her distrustful of most people wearing a uniform.

'Alysha,' Sandra spoke firmly, trying to catch the girl's attention, ignoring the gathering of airmen and medical personnel wondering what to do. 'Alysha, look at me, you know who I am don't you honey?' Alysha stopped her struggling as the familiar voice reached her and she looked into the face of the one person who had been there for her through everything that had happened to her. 'It's ok, you can let her go now,' Sandra said to the SF still holding Alysha, and when he didn't comply, 'She's not going anywhere, just let her go please.'

It looked like they were at a stalemate when an authoritative voice behind the SF spoke up. 'Do as she says, airman. Let her go.' Recognising the voice of the base's second-in-command, the SF reluctantly let go of the girl and stood to one side to allow Colonel O'Neill through. In an instant, Alysha had raced to stand behind Sandra, putting the woman between her and all the people who had gathered.

'Ok, that's all folks, everything's under control here now. Dismissed.' Jack ordered the group away and a few moments later the area was deserted aside from the nurse who had alerted Colonel O'Neill to what was going on. 'Good work Philips,' Jack smiled at the nurse who returned the smile and returned to her night duties in the infirmary. 'How's Alysha?' Jack asked Sandra who was now crouched in front of the little girl, hugging her tightly to stop the panic attack that was threatening to take control of her.

Alysha pushed herself away from Sandra as she looked towards the familiar voice and face who had just rescued her from that other man in uniform. Jack took a tentative step towards Alysha, not wanting to alarm her or set her off again and smiled when the child approached him, putting her arms around his waist, pressing her face into his stomach as she hugged him silently in thanks. Jack ruffled her hair before lifting her easily, feeling her arms circling his neck and her legs wrapping around his waist as she enjoyed the feeling of being hugged by someone who didn't have a bad feeling about them like those horrid people back at that other place.

'I think we'd better get you back to bed,' Jack spoke soothingly to her. 'I bet you're still tired aren't you?' Alysha vigorously shook her head, her body stiffening at the thought of being returned to that place that reminded her so much of unpleasant tests and people wanting to hurt her and use her. 'Oh? Well, then how about we get something to eat. You hungry?' Alysha nodded this time and allowed Jack to carry her into the infirmary and give Sandra instructions to change Alysha into something more suitable for wandering around the base, the nurse coming forward with a bag of Cassie's spare clothes that someone had collected earlier. 'I can take it from here, get yourself back to bed.' Jack spoke to Sandra, seeing dark circles under her eyes still.

'I'm alright, sir,' Sandra tried to argue. 'It's nearly morning anyway, I may as well stay up.'

'That wasn't exactly a suggestion, Sergeant,' Jack said as kindly as he could. 'You're one of the few people Alysha trusts right now and I need you to be properly rested so you can carry on looking out for her. We'll be fine while Sandra gets some sleep won't we?' Alysha nodded her agreement, trusting this tall man. It was good to have someone else she knew would make sure nothing bad happened to her. 'See? We'll be back in a few hours so make sure you get some good quality sleep in.'

Her shoulders sagging in acceptance of this order, Sandra reluctantly returned to her bed and was asleep almost before Jack and Alysha had left the room, evidence as to her to still exhausted state.

XOXOXOX

'Here we go,' Jack ushered Alysha into the briefing room in front of him, one hand on her shoulder, reassuring her. They'd had breakfast in the mess hall, then responding to a summons over the intercom, made his way to the briefing room with Alysha. Alysha, looking around nervously, was relieved to see Sandra there and after a quick glance at Jack to make sure it was ok, silently pulled out the chair beside Sandra and sat down, scooting the chair as close to Sandra as she could get it.

'I need to go see General Hammond,' Jack advised Sandra. 'I'll be back in a couple of minutes. If you need anything, ask one of the SF's outside the door.' Smiling at them both, Jack headed towards Hammond's office and disappeared from view.

Five minutes later, Jack returned, accompanied by General Hammond. Sandra immediately got to her feet and saluted, her body tense and rigid, the tiredness of the day before having gone now and she was aware that she could be in a lot of trouble for disobeying orders from her most recent posting.

'At ease Sergeant,' Hammond spoke quietly, not wanting to startle the little girl who had jumped up at his entrance and was doing her best to burrow into the Sergeant's chest to hide from this stranger. Jack and Hammond took their seats and Hammond continued speaking. 'Colonel O'Neill has brought me up to date on the situation, and while I'm not happy with the way events have occurred, I am prepared to offer whatever help we can to Alysha. I agree with Colonel O'Neill that Alysha's incarceration was inappropriate and that she should be afforded our assistance.' Alysha, hearing her name mentioned had released her grip on Sandra and turned around so she was now perched on her lap, watching the proceedings warily. 'I've also got the paperwork here authorising your reassignment to this facility. With immediate effect you are now under my command.'

'Thank you, sir. I never expected…' Sandra stuttered, but the relief and happiness on her face told Hammond and O'Neill everything.

'You must be Alysha,' Hammond turned towards the little girl who was studying him curiously. She hadn't understood exactly what had happened but she knew this cuddly-looking man had done something to make Sandra happy and she could sense only good things coming from him. Jack also seemed to trust this man and this was enough for her. Slipping down from Sandra's lap, she approached Hammond and stood beside him. When he turned his chair to face her, she reached forward and gave him a hug before returning to her own chair, not noticing the bemused expression on his face.

'It's nice to meet you Alysha,' Hammond continued, ignoring the grin on Jack's face. 'I know you've not been treated very well since you arrived on our planet and I'm really sorry for what you've been through. You must have a lot of questions and we'll do our best to provide answers. In the meantime, there's someone I'd like you to meet.' In response to this cue, the door opened and Cassie entered, walking between Janet and Sam.

The two girls looked at each other for a brief moment before they rushed towards each other, hugging each other close, tears running freely down their faces. The adults watched this scene for a few moments before Hammond gestured for everyone except Janet and Sandra to leave the room to allow the girls chance to catch up, and also for Cassie to reassure Alysha that she was safe.

An hour later, Alysha and Cassie were still talking nineteen to the dozen as Hammond and SG1 returned to the room, their arrival ignored by the girls who continued their reminiscing, until Janet spoke quietly to Cassie who in turn nudged Alysha and they at last fell silent.

'Alysha,' Hammond broke the silence. 'Has Cassie been able to answer some of your questions?' Alysha nodded, her expression indicating she still had more questions. 'Good, now I'm sure there's still a lot you want to know, but first if we can find out what you do know?' Hammond looked to Dr Fraiser and Sandra to supply this information.

'It appears that Cassie and Alysha had similar experiences on Hanka,' Janet began, appreciating that Sandra was still unsure of her standing in the group. 'Their people got sick and died, but while Cassie had us to take her in and look after her, after Alysha was "rescued", she was sent to Area 51 and had various tests carried out on her in order to understand what she was capable of doing for them. From the sounds of it, they had plans to use her as some kind of weapon to take control of the SGC.'

'Nothing new there then,' Jack muttered, his face scowling. He fell silent at a warning look from Hammond, allowing Sandra to take up the tale.

'She got away from the people watching her for a short time and got into one of the store rooms. Cassie explained about the quantum mirror and other realities and it looks like Alysha touched the mirror and found herself in our reality. That's where we found her, and I've been with her since.'

'In that case, what we need to consider next is what to do with Alysha,' Hammond spoke thoughtfully. He had been extremely annoyed at the actions of SG1 while they were with Colonel Maybourne, but now he had the full facts he realised they hadn't had any option and he was willing to do what he could to protect the little girl.

Alysha, on hearing this immediately tensed up. She had relaxed considerably once she had met Cassandra, even though the circumstances were really weird and this Cassandra wasn't the one she had been friends with, the similarities were enough for her to ignore the weirdness.

'What are you going to do?' Sergeant Brown jumped in, all reserve gone now as she realised these people were going to do whatever they could to help Alysha, not use her for their own purposes against her will.

'Before we can make any decisions, we really need to know what we're working with,' Hammond informed her. 'From what I've heard, I understand Alysha has some unusual abilities which will limit our options. Alysha,' Hammond spoke directly to her, 'would you be willing to take part in some tests so we can find out what you're able to do?'

'What are you going to make her do?' Cassandra spoke up quickly, surprising everyone present at the force with which she spoke.

'We're not going to make her do anything Cassie,' Sam replied. 'We won't do anything unless Alysha agrees to help us. What we're hoping is that she will help us with the tests to find out the extent of her mental abilities. We will need to do some blood tests and scans which aren't very nice, and then we'll need to hook her up to some monitors while she does some exercises we've got worked out for her. Alysha, if at any time you want a break or don't want to carry on then just let us know and we'll stop straight away.'

Alysha considered this, her young face taking on a very serious expression as she looked intently at the faces around the table, trying to make sense of the feelings emanating from all of them. Finally she spoke up. 'Can Sandra stay with me?' She asked.

'Of course, and I'll make sure you have plenty of time to spend with Cassandra as well,' Hammond smiled warmly at Alysha. 'Dr Fraiser, I'd like regular updates on your findings please…' Before Hammond could dismiss those present, raised voices could be heard outside the door, followed shortly after by a figure wearing full dress uniform bursting into the room, his face red as he tried to keep his temper under control.

'General Hammond, I'm here to collect Alysha and take Sergeant Brown into custody,' Colonel Maybourne spoke from between clenched teeth, turning to the two SF's he had brought with him to take charge of Sandra.

'I'm afraid I can't let you do that, Colonel,' Hammond emphasised Maybourne's rank as he appeared to have forgotten that Hammond was a superior officer. 'Sergeant Brown has been transferred to the SGC with immediate effect and Alysha is now under our jurisdiction.'

'I'm going to need to see the paperwork, General,' Maybourne's voice bordered on insolence as he moved to stand behind the chairs in which Sandra and Alysha were sitting. Alysha slunk lower and lower in her chair until she was almost invisible while Sandra sat rigidly in her seat, her face white as she waited for the outcome of this confrontation.

'That can be arranged, Colonel,' Hammond spoke frostily as he stood up, drawing Maybourne's attention away from the two chairs directly in front of him. 'Please accompany me to my office.' Hammond extended an arm for Maybourne to precede him but Maybourne was not prepared to give in that easily.

'I would prefer it if you brought the paperwork here, General,' Maybourne snapped. 'I am not going to risk losing sight of my charges.' As he spoke, he glanced at the seats in front of him and realised that one of them was empty, along with the chair right next to it that had previously been occupied by the Fraiser kid. 'What's going on, General? Where…' He broke off as he saw the two girls scuttling down the staircase in the corner of the briefing room leading down to the control room.

Maybourne hastened to follow them but just at that moment the alarms sounded, warning them of an unscheduled off-world activation. Within moments the corridors were swarming with armed guards and security doors were closing at every turn impeding Maybourne's progress. By the time the situation allowed him to leave the control room, there was no sign of the girls.

Half an hour later, General Hammond found Colonel Maybourne waiting impatiently for him in his office. Hammond calmly took a seat behind his desk, not allowing the sight of Maybourne standing right in front of the desk and leaning on it to intimidate him.

'You let her get away,' Maybourne hissed, in his anger completely unaware of Jack's presence behind him. 'You'd better get her here pretty quickly or…'

'That is enough Colonel,' Hammond bit out sharply. He searched through the manila folders on his desk before turning his attention back to Maybourne. 'Here are the orders transferring Sergeant Brown to my command,' he passed the papers to Maybourne who glanced at them and tossed them on the desk.

'And what about Alysha?' Maybourne asked, standing up straight and toning down his voice as he realised he was bordering on a reprimand if he continued in his previous manner.

'Alysha is under my jurisdiction now,' Hammond stated firmly. 'The president agrees that we need to re-home Alysha and that is what we are going to do. Until that time, she remains here. Is that understood?'

Maybourne's face turned white as he restrained himself from saying what he really wanted to. 'Yes sir,' he said, snapping a brief salute at the General before taking his leave, pushing past Jack who was leaning against the wall just inside the door.

'Well that kind of answers one of our questions doesn't it sir?' Jack spoke up as soon as Maybourne was clear.

'It's what we expected though,' Hammond sighed deeply. 'Jack, I want you and your team to go through our list of allies and come up with some options. I know we can't make any decisions at this point but we need to know what options are available.'

'Yes sir,' Jack acknowledged his orders and left the General's office.


	7. Part seven

**__**

DISCLAIMER: The characters mentioned in this story are the property of Showtime and Gekko Film Corp. The Stargate, SG-1, the goa'uld and all other characters that have appeared in the series STARGATE SG-1 together with the names, titles and backstory are the sole copyright property of the people who made them up. This fanfic is not intended as an infringement upon those rights and solely meant for entertainment. All other characters, the story idea and the story itself are the sole property of the author.

Manifestations

Part seven

'Well folks, I guess we call it a night,' Jack stretched his cramped limbs and stifled a yawn. He had been working with Daniel and Teal'c sorting through mission reports and using their own knowledge of their allies to come up with a list of possibilities for a new home for Alysha. 'How many have we got?'

'Fourteen who are advanced enough,' Daniel scanned through the list. They had started by listing all their off-world allies, winnowing out all those who were either in too volatile a location or were less advanced than the people of earth. Now Daniel was referring to the short list they had drawn up. 'Including the Nox and the Tollans.'

'Ok,' Jack frowned at these two. 'We'll probably have to discount them as we have no way of getting in contact with them. Anyway, we can't decide anything until we know the extent of Alysha's abilities. Anyone want to grab something to eat?' Jack stood up and reached for his jacket, freezing as he did so.

'What was that?' Jack looked around wildly, trying to see where the noise had come from.

'To what are you referring O'Neill?' Teal'c looked perturbed at Jack's odd behaviour.

'That noise. It sounded like someone was calling for help,' Jack raced to the door and looked up and down the deserted hallway. 'Must be overwork or something.' Jack tried to brush the feeling off but he could feel the hairs on the back of his neck standing up, alerting him that something was amiss. 'There it is again.'

'I heard it that time,' Daniel frowned as he tried to focus on the source of the noise. 'It's like it's coming from a distance.'

The next time it came, Teal'c could also hear it and the words were clearly recognised.

__

"Cassie, help me. He's trying to take me away. Help me. Please, someone help me."

'Alysha!' Jack cried out as he raced towards the elevator, the other two close behind him. The elevator seemed to take forever to arrive, the doors took an age to open and a lifetime must have passed by the time they arrived on the infirmary level. By the time they arrived in the infirmary they found the room in darkness alerting them to the fact that something was very wrong: even during the night shift there would be the glow of the side lights to enable the staff to do their rounds and it was barely nine o'clock in the evening.

Jack reached over to snap the main lights on but nothing happened, the darkness persisted. Teal'c, whose eyes saw much better in the dark than the humans made his way to Dr Fraiser's office and returned with flashlights which he proceeded to hand out. With the aid of this light they were able to see several of Janet's nurses passed out on the floor, the patients in the infirmary all fast asleep, not disturbed by the bright lights shining on their faces. Daniel, kneeling down beside one of the nurses to check on her condition, found himself growing light-headed at the same moment as Teal'c identified the presence of an unusual odour in the air.

Grabbing Daniel roughly, Teal'c called out a warning to Jack before heading rapidly out of the infirmary where he carefully lowered Daniel to a sitting position.

'What's going on?' Jack demanded.

'It is charlyn root,' Teal'c informed him, keeping a careful eye on the now recovering Daniel. 'It is a substance used by the goa'uld to overpower their enemies. It sends them into a deep sleep from which they will not recover for many hours.'

'What about Daniel?'

'Daniel Jackson will not suffer the effects as the substance is now dispersing through the ventilation system and he was only exposed briefly.'

Jack nodded at this brief explanation before grabbing the nearest phone and raising the alert. 'Seal the mountain, no one goes in or out. I want the base searched thoroughly for one or more people with a ten year old girl, if found they are to be detained and advise me immediately.' Jack also requested a HAZMAT team to clear the infirmary and put out a call to bring General Hammond back to the base.

Once he was done, Jack took Daniel with him back to the control room, sending Teal'c off to join the SF's now locking down the base.

Five minutes later Sam, Dr Fraiser and Cassie arrived at the briefing room, full of questions.

'Why is there a HAZMAT team stopping me from getting into my infirmary?' Janet demanded.

'A short time ago we heard what can only be a telepathic cry for help from Alysha. By the time we got to the infirmary, everyone there was unconscious, Teal'c identified some goa'uld substance in the air so we got out. All I know apart from that is that Alysha is missing and I've locked down the mountain.'

'I heard it too, Jack,' Cassie wormed her way under Jack's arm and he instinctively drew her closer. 'I dreamt that Colonel Maybourne was trying to take Alysha away and she was calling out for help. I thought it was only a dream until I heard the alarms going.'

'It's alright Cassie, we didn't understand to begin with either,' Jack reassured the little girl clinging to him, ruffling her hair as he spoke. 'The security checkpoints have all confirmed that Alysha hasn't left the mountain though, she'll be back here soon. Now, why don't you go up and wait in the briefing room with Daniel?'

'Well that's something to add to our list,' Sam smiled at Jack's confused expression. 'When Cassie dreamt about Alysha back at Nellis I assumed it was a one-off, but now that four of you were affected, it's a clear indication that Alysha has telepathic abilities.'

'No wonder Maybourne was so interested in her, she must have seemed like the goose that lays the golden eggs to him.' Jack scowled before returning his attention to the progress of the search, demanding irritably if General Hammond had arrived yet.

'He's on his way down now, sir,' Sergeant Davis informed him. 'And it looks like the search is over, he's bringing company with him.'

XOXOXOX

****

'They haven't said a word, General,' Jack said as he flung himself into a seat in the briefing room, rubbing his hands over his face tiredly. 'How's Alysha?'

'Captain Carter and Dr Fraiser made up another bed in with Cassie, she should be fast asleep. I've posted two guards outside the room and I've doubled the number of patrols,' Hammond reported grimly. 'Sergeant Brown is still out for the count along with the rest of the infirmary staff and the few patients that were in there.'

'Teal'c said they'd sleep for hours,' Jack acknowledged before continuing his own report of the interrogation of the two men apprehended as they tried to abscond with Alysha. 'All they'll give me is their names, ranks and serial numbers. They won't say what they were doing here, who they're working for or how they got in here. I guess we're going to have to hand them over to the authorities to deal with.' Jack paused before expressing his true feelings on the matter. 'Isn't there any way at all that we can pin this on Maybourne? It just seems a bit of a coincidence that someone tries to abduct Alysha the same day as Maybourne was here. Let's face it sir, not many people know she's here or what her potential is.'

'I agree, Jack,' Hammond looked equally frustrated. 'Unfortunately all we've got is supposition which doesn't give me sufficient grounds to hold those men any longer. They'll be transferred first thing in the morning.'

'In that case, with your permission I'm going to crash in the guest quarters.'

XOXOXOX

'Colonel O'Neill?' A muffled voice came through the closed door, accompanied by a series of loud knocks. Jack groaned and wondered who on earth was calling on him at this time of morning before he recalled where he was. Stumbling out of bed, he wrenched open the door to see an SF staring at him nervously.

'What is it?' Jack snapped, annoyed at being woken.

'General Hammond has asked to see you immediately, sir,' the SF informed him. Jack sighed, then nodded his understanding of the request and closed the door, hurriedly pulling on his clothes, grinning to himself as he realised the SF obviously wasn't used to seeing one of the SGC's most senior officers dressed only in t-shirt and boxer shorts.

'Sir?' Jack asked as soon as he reached the briefing room where the rest of his team and Dr Fraiser were already assembled. 'What's going on?'

'Our two detainees were collected early this morning,' Hammond had a grim look on his face. 'An hour after they left we received a report that the vehicle they were travelling in was involved in an accident and left the road. There were no survivors.'

'Nice,' Jack said sarcastically. 'Maybourne certainly looks after his own doesn't he?'

'We now need to act as quickly as possible,' Hammond turned the conversation around. 'I suspect for as long as Alysha is with us she is going to be a target of interest for the NID. I don't know how long I can keep them off our backs, but I suspect it won't be long before I get orders to hand her over to them, she is after all an asset in our fight against the go'auld.' Hammond's face had a disgusted expression on it as he spoke these words. 'I would say we've got another two days, maximum, before the NID start putting the pressure on. By the end of the day I need as much information as possible on Alysha's abilities and a safe world for her to live on. Dismissed.'

XOXOXOX

'No luck, sir,' Jack grimaced as he walked down the ramp for the sixth time that day. 'Another wipe-out.'

'What did they say?' Hammond looked for more information.

'They are of a pure-bred race, General,' Daniel provided the explanation, an equally frustrated look on his face, 'and their cultural beliefs won't allow them to accept someone not born of the right blood-lines to live with them.'

'That doesn't leave us much choice does it?' Hammond said as he led the way to the briefing room. Through the day, SG1, SG2 and SG3 had been visiting the home-worlds of those who would be suitable to provide a home for Alysha, none of whom were able to help them out for one reason or another.

'There's always Tuplo's people?' Daniel offered, only semi-seriously, knowing that the people from the Land of Light would probably be unable to cope with someone of Alysha's abilities.

'It could still come to that, son,' Hammond returned. 'We know they were more than ready to welcome the Tollans, I'm sure if we asked they would give Alysha a home, and I'm afraid that may be our only choice, unless we can somehow get in touch with the Nox.'

'We can't send a message in the same way the Tollans did, we just don't have the right technology sir,' Sam spoke thoughtfully. 'Even if we tried, the chances are it would take months, probably years for the message to get through. We could just try to dial it up and see what happens. We haven't tried that address since the Tollan left us, it's got to be worth a try.'

'Agreed.'

They headed back down to the control room where Sam's fingers flew over the keys to dial the correct co-ordinates. Sergeant Davis, sitting to one side, counted down as the chevrons locked. After what seemed like an age, Davis announced 'Chevron seven - locked?' He turned to look at Sam, not believing they had managed to connect.

'Send the MALP through, Sergeant,' Sam smiled and nodded at the technician, then returned her attention to watch the MALP's progress through the 'gate and finally it's arrival at the other side.

'Everything looks the same,' Jack announced as they looked carefully for any signs of the people they were looking for, not really surprised when they saw nothing.

'What if they've moved on?' Daniel asked, biting his lower lip anxiously.

'What a little ray of sunshine you are today, Daniel,' Jack said as he patted Daniel's shoulder. 'O ye of little faith. The 'gate opened, it's a sign.'

'There is no sign O'Neill,' Teal'c looked puzzled, still struggling to come to terms with the odd ways of the humans, particularly those of Colonel O'Neill.

'You know, like an omen or something.'

'I see.' Teal'c frowned and returned his attention to General Hammond.

'SG1, you leave as soon as you're ready. Good luck.'


	8. Part eight

**__**

DISCLAIMER: The characters mentioned in this story are the property of Showtime and Gekko Film Corp. The Stargate, SG-1, the goa'uld and all other characters that have appeared in the series STARGATE SG-1 together with the names, titles and backstory are the sole copyright property of the people who made them up. This fanfic is not intended as an infringement upon those rights and solely meant for entertainment. All other characters, the story idea and the story itself are the sole property of the author.

Manifestations

Part eight

'What the..?' Jack left the question hanging as he realised where he was now standing.

'Jack - what just happened?' Daniel looked around, a bemused expression on his face.

'Good question. General?' Jack shot a puzzled look up to the control room.

'I have no idea, Jack. Come straight to the briefing room.'

'We walked through the 'gate, and found ourselves walking back down the ramp, sir.' Jack gave his account of events. 'As far as I'm aware, we didn't even arrive on the planet.'

'That pretty much matches up with what happened at this end. The 'gate didn't shut down or redial, you just came walking back out again as soon as you left.'

'I guess the Nox really don't want to see us then,' Jack pulled a face as he spoke. 'What now?'

'Why not wait and see?' Daniel suggested, hurrying on when he saw curious faces directed at him. 'Last time we tried, we couldn't even get a lock on the Nox planet, someone must have been there to send us back again.'

'Have you considered the fact that they may be expecting someone else?' Jack reminded Daniel, with more than a hint of sarcasm in his voice.

'Either way, Jack,' Daniel remained patient in spite of Jack's aggravatingly negative manner, 'we've still got time left before we have to make a decision, if nothing comes of this, there's always Tuplo and the Land of Light.'

'Daniel Jackson's assessment of the current situation appears to have merit,' Teal'c gave the plan his seal of approval in a rather roundabout way. 'The Nox have demonstrated themselves to prefer peaceful methods although they possess great power. It is probable that they are aware we have been trying to contact them.'

'That doesn't mean they want anything to do with us,' Jack still argued. 'They don't seem particularly interested in anyone else as long as they don't interfere with their own ways.'

'They helped the Tollan,' Daniel reminded Jack.

'Only because the Tollan were able to communicate with them using their 'superior' technology.' Daniel could almost see the quotation marks around Jack's use of the word 'superior'. It still grated on all of them that races such as the Tok'ra or Tollan saw them as inferior rather than less advanced.

'Gentlemen,' Hammond spoke the word quietly, but instantly the room fell silent. 'We need to give the Nox time to respond. If we hear nothing, Alysha will go to the Land of Light in twenty-four hours. Dismissed.'

XOXOXOX

'Thanks Alysha, you've done really well this morning. Did you want to go get some lunch with Cassie - I'm sure you've still got lots of catching up to do,' Janet smiled at Alysha who was starting to show signs of becoming restless. She had patiently undergone a number of tests and simulations but it was clear she had had enough for the moment. 'Sergeant?' Janet turned to Sandra who had remained with Alysha throughout the morning. 'Cassie's in my office playing on the computer, could you take the girls to the mess hall please.'

'Yes ma'am,' Sandra responded smartly, standing up straight, still not entirely at ease in her new posting.

'Relax, Sandra,' Janet smiled warmly at the other woman. 'You'll find that we're a pretty easy going command for the most part, as long as you're ready to tackle anything that crops up.' Sandra returned the smile and led Alysha away towards Dr Fraiser's office.

Janet stood staring into space for a few moments before she gathered up the pile of test results, a considerable quantity for the short time they had available, and made her way to Sam's lab.

'Knock knock!' Janet called as she entered the open door. Sam looked up and smiled, stretching as she did so as she realised she'd been sitting hunched over the bench for several hours now without moving.

'Hey.' Sam greeted her.

'Please don't tell me you've been working without a break since you left me,' Janet smiled wryly as she knew what the answer was going to be, not giving Sam chance to respond. 'I've got the results from the physical exams, and they certainly make for some interesting reading. There was a huge increase in brain wave activity after each of the tasks you set her, she's using parts of the brain which are normally redundant in most humans.'

'Tell me about it,' Sam nodded in agreement. 'I've been going over the results and video tapes of the exercises she went through, it's amazing, no wonder the NID are so interested. I guess we'd better go and update General Hammond then.'

'Are you sure these results are correct?' Hammond asked, unable to quite believe what the two officers were telling him. 'To exhibit one or two of these behaviours I could well believe, but I just can't believe that a child possesses so much mental ability.' Hammond scanned through the report once again to confirm what he was reading.

'Don't forget that Alysha isn't human in the same way we are, and Nirrti has had a lot of time to perfect some of her techniques,' Sam reminded Hammond. 'It certainly explains why the zats the NID tried to use on us didn't work when we were bringing Alysha here. She seems to have a lot of ability, but at the moment it is unpredictable and she finds it hard to control it. When she's threatened she just lashes out without even knowing what she's doing. Don't get me wrong sir, there is certainly an element of self-control there, but when she's threatened her ability increases exponentially. I'd hate to get on the wrong side of her.'

'Of whom, Carter?' Jack had entered the briefing room as Sam finished speaking. Hammond nodded a greeting at the Colonel who proceeded to take a seat.

'Alysha.'

'You're kidding right?' Jack asked, unable to believe that the child could possibly possess enough power to put the frighteners on his second-in-command.

'I'm afraid not, sir,' Sam confirmed.

'I though we were just talking about a bit of telekinesis and telepathy,' Jack protested.

'Those were our initial thoughts, but even in the short time we've had this morning, we now realise that Alysha has the ability to go beyond anything we could ever think humanly possible,' Janet jumped in, backing up Sam's observations. 'Alysha hasn't even begun to fully explore what she is capable of, and she could end up being a danger to herself and others if her ability isn't channelled in the right way, and quite frankly, sir, I don't think we can even begin to help her. In a couple of years she'll be out of control.'

'Why in a couple of years?' Jack asked curiously. 'I mean, she's got this now, why isn't she a danger now?'

'When she reaches puberty with her hormones all over the place, she'll lose what little control she has over it,' Janet explained. 'Imagine what a normal teenager is like and multiply that a hundred or thousand-fold.'

'What exactly has she done this morning anyway?' Jack changed the angle of attack, curious as to what had got the two scientists so uptight.

'Apart from moving and repelling objects, she's been able to interfere with electrical equipment - light bulbs and fuses blowing, machinery switching on and off and she knows when someone is about to come into the room, she can sense their presence outside the room and can also tell us why they're there.'

'Cool,' Jack replied.

'Colonel I don't think you fully understand the implications…' Janet began but was cut off mid-sentence as a panicked voice spoke over the intercom.

'Back up units to the 'gate room immediately, General Hammond to the control room.' This was accompanied by the sound of a wormhole establishing below in the 'gate room

'Report!' Hammond barked while he was still half way down the stairs, the others hot on his heels watching as the 'gate room filled with security personnel on full alert as they realised the iris hadn't closed and there was no indication of any GDO code coming through.

'The 'gate activated without warning, sir and the iris won't close.' The 'gate technician brought Hammond up to speed without diverting his attention from the console in front of him, his hands flying as he tried to restore control of the iris.

'Stand by in the 'gate room,' Hammond ordered briskly, 'and seal the doors. Let's not take any chances.'

The minutes ticked by and still nothing happened.

'I'm not detecting any unusual readings, sir,' Sam reported. 'Something must be keeping the 'gate open, but there's nothing coming through.' She frowned as she continued her investigations.

At that moment, their attention was diverted by the arrival of Cassie and Alysha accompanied by an apologetic Sergeant Brown.

'I tried to stop her but she won't listen,' Sandra began, falling silent as she watched Alysha approaching the window overlooking the 'gate room and standing on her toes to try to see through.

'What's she doing?' Jack enquired, keeping his voice calm in spite of his obvious irritation.

'I have no idea,' Janet responded as she moved towards the girl. 'Alysha?' Janet touched her lightly on the arm, only to be shrugged off, Alysha's attention remaining on the open 'gate.

Before any more could be said, six armed Jaffa emerged from the 'gate, staff weapons fully charged and taking aim at the guards around the room, the three in front kneeling down to allow those behind clear access to the room as well. Simultaneously, all six staff weapons were fired, each finding it's target, six of the guard dropping to the floor like stones. The weapons were aimed again, but this time only three fired, and the blast from them hit the wall behind their targets. Unperturbed, the Jaffa fired again, or tried to, but found their weapons to be inoperative. Their air of self-confidence starting to wane, the Jaffa reached for their zat guns but found those also to be out of commission, and in a final bid to save themselves and complete their mission, pulled out knives and advanced slowly down the ramp towards the waiting guards.

At the same time, the human security contingent had found their weapons to be equally useless, although fully loaded not one gun would fire and their own zats refused to work. Casting anxious looks at each other, the guards pulled their knives out as well and took up defensive positions to tackle the approaching Jaffa.

Before either group were able to make contact, the faces of the Jaffa turned blank and they crumpled to the floor without warning. Moving cautiously forward, the SGC personnel secured the intruders while Hammond and Jack made their way to the 'gate room to see if there were any indication as to what exactly had happened.

'General, there's someone else coming through,' Sam's voice called out the warning as the event horizon rippled and a figure could be seen emerging.


	9. Part nine

**__**

DISCLAIMER: The characters mentioned in this story are the property of Showtime and Gekko Film Corp. The Stargate, SG-1, the goa'uld and all other characters that have appeared in the series STARGATE SG-1 together with the names, titles and backstory are the sole copyright property of the people who made them up. This fanfic is not intended as an infringement upon those rights and solely meant for entertainment. All other characters, the story idea and the story itself are the sole property of the author.

Manifestations

Part nine

'Lya?' Jack asked in confusion.

'Colonel O'Neill,' Lya greeted him, her hands clasped together as she bowed slightly towards him, watching as the rest of SG1 hurried down to greet her, but her attention turned to someone standing behind them, almost hidden by the taller figures filling the room. 'You have done well, my child. You have shown us what you are truly capable of becoming and we would gladly welcome you to come amongst us should you choose to do so.'

Growing in confidence, Alysha moved forward and grasped Lya's hands which were held out before her, palms turned upwards, looking searchingly into the face of the Nox woman. They remained like this for several minutes, oblivious to the activity going on around them as the 'gate room was cleared, leaving only Hammond, Dr Fraiser and SG1.

At last, Alysha sighed deeply and turned to stand beside Lya, grasping her hand and allowing her to take charge of the situation.

'I am sorry that the test caused injury to your people,' Lya began, interrupted by an outburst from Jack.

'Test? This was all some test? Of all the…'

'Colonel,' Hammond barked out, silencing the irate Jack. 'Lya, perhaps you would like to accompany us to our briefing room. I'm sure we've all got some questions we'd like answered.' Lya inclined her head in agreement and followed Hammond out of the room, Alysha remaining close to her.

As they took their seats, Sergeant Brown and Cassie stood uncertainly at the door, unsure as to whether or not they would be welcome at this meeting. Hammond beckoned to them and they sat down, Cassie joining Alysha in the seat she was in, sensing somehow that she did not have much time left to spend with her friend.

'When we saw your probe we knew you were attempting to contact us. When you came through, we understood why you were so insistent on trying to find us. We know that those who are so much younger than ourselves can be impetuous and consider minor matters to be of great consequence and we had to be sure that you're anxiety was truly justified. The Jaffa were a test for Alysha, we had to know what she truly is and she has shown she can be one of us and learn from us.' Lya finished talking, smiling at the faces watching her, unperturbed by the scowl on Jack's face.

'What if…' he began but was interrupted.

'Lya would not have let anything very bad happen,' Alysha spoke up. 'She was watching what happened and if I could not stop the bad men from hurting anyone, she would have stopped them for me.'

'You mean that was you?' Sam asked in awe as she realised that this was another aspect of Alysha's abilities that they had not yet touched on.

Alysha smiled and nodded in reply, allowing the adults to continue the discussion.

'How did you know what we wanted?' Daniel asked curiously.

'We have the ability to see what people are thinking and what their intentions towards us are,' Lya smiled at Daniel. 'When you came through, your thoughts and concerns were made clear and so we arranged for the test.'

'Why didn't you just come through yourself, for crying out loud,' Jack snapped. 'Was it absolutely necessary for you to send the Jaffa first? It's fortunate we didn't have any worse injuries.'

'It was important that we understand how you have progressed since last we met,' Lya responded, unperturbed by the animosity coming from Jack. 'As I told Daniel at that time, your people needed to learn that violence is not the only answer. I saw today that your people did not use their weapons immediately, thus allowing time for a peaceful solution to be reached. Your people have indeed grown, but you are still as children to us. Alysha, however, has moved beyond childhood and she is ready for us to teach her to become an adult.'

'Daniel - translation please?' Jack, frustrated at Lya's convoluted explanation, appealed to Daniel for clarification.

'The Nox wanted to find out how far we had progressed since we last met them,' Daniel said, glancing at Lya to make sure he had this right. 'They didn't expect us to attempt to make contact this soon but when they realised why we tried, they set up a test, partly for us but also to know whether or not they'd be able to help Alysha.'

'Jack?' Alysha had left her own chair and was now standing beside Jack. He turned around to face her and she rested a hand on one of his legs. 'Lya understands you better now, she's sorry that your people got hurt and will not do something like this again.'

Jack looked at Lya, to find her watching Alysha with a surprised expression on her face. Quickly Lya resumed her normally calm exterior and Jack, realising that this representative of a more advanced race had just been shaken to her core by someone who had the ability to become even greater than they were, let the matter drop.

'So now what?' Jack moved things along. 'You take Alysha back with you?'

'If Alysha wishes to do so,' Lya responded.

'Alysha?' Jack looked at the little girl standing beside him, waiting patiently while she looked around carefully at the faces of all those watching her, her gaze resting longest on Cassie and Sergeant Brown. Sandra, who had been watching this whole situation unravel with careful consideration and tense shoulders suddenly relaxed as some unspoken communication reassured her that Alysha would be alright and she nodded, smiling briefly at Alysha.

Cassie, tears forming in her eyes as she realised she was about to lose her friend again, also nodded and gave Alysha watery smile.

As she received approval from the two people who meant most to her, Alysha turned back to Jack.

'I'd like to go,' she said quietly. 'You've all been really good to me, but I can't stay here. I don't want to go back to that other place and I don't want any of you to get into trouble because of me. I can always come and visit can't I?' Lya inclined her head to let her know this would be possible.

At that moment an airman arrived, speaking quietly to General Hammond, Hammond's face taking on a stony appearance as he turned to face the people in front of him again.

'Our time just ran out, folks,' he said grimly. 'Colonel Maybourne and his team are on their way. They've just signed in and will be here in a few minutes. Lya, we owe you our deepest gratitude in helping us out in this way. Alysha, it's been a pleasure knowing you and we'll always be more than happy for you to visit. We should adjourn to the 'gate room.'

Hammond led the way with Lya, Alysha and Cassie walked together, talking non-stop, tears falling as they exchanged a last farewell. The remainder of the group followed behind them, Sam placing a reassuring hand on Sandra's arm, understanding how the other woman must be feeling having been through the same thing with Cassie herself.

As they gathered in the 'gate room, Lya approached the 'gate, moved her arms and the event horizon formed as though by magic, waiting patiently while Alysha said her final farewells. Alysha moved around the circle of people waiting to see her off, shaking their hands politely until she came to Sandra, giving her a big hug before doing the same to Cassie. At last she was ready, she set her shoulders, walked up the ramp towards Lya where she took the hand of the Nox woman, took one last look behind her and disappeared from sight.

Not a moment too soon. The moment the 'gate had closed, an irate Maybourne burst into the room, staring in disbelief at what had just happened.

'General? May I ask what just happened?' Maybourne asked in frosty tones, his expression as he looked around at those remaining in the 'gate room was verging on animosity.

'We've just received a delegation from one of our allies and they have just departed, Colonel,' General Hammond took some pleasure in informing Maybourne of the situation. Although Maybourne was a subordinate, with the backing of the mysterious NID, and occasionally having the President in his pocket, Hammond was only too happy when he was able to do something to put a stop to the less than reputable actions of the Colonel Maybourne.

'And did this delegate leave on her own?' Maybourne's eyes were scanning the room, taking in the sight of all of those he suspected as having something to do with the abduction of Alysha, his gaze lingering on Cassie and Sergeant Brown.

'No, Alysha asked if she could go along as well. It seems Alysha wasn't too impressed with the hospitality she received from this planet and decided to try her luck elsewhere.'

'General Hammond, I have here the relevant paperwork to transfer Alysha into my jurisdiction. I would appreciate it if you could contact this delegate and arrange for Alysha's return.'

'Very well, if you insist. Sergeant? Dial it up.'

Once the event horizon had established, a MALP was sent through. No sooner had it left than it returned, trundling down the ramp towards the waiting group.

'What have you done?' Maybourne hissed, beginning to lose his grip on his temper.

'Absolutely nothing, Colonel,' Hammond smiled pleasantly at Maybourne. 'Lya did mention that the Nox were going to make the 'gate inaccessible to future visits though.'

'Lya? The Nox? The same one who…'

'Yup, Harry, the same one who stole the Tollans from under your nose. Good aren't they?' Jack gloated. 'You know, if it weren't for people like you, we might have been able to reach an understanding with one of the most powerful races in the galaxy, but as it is, I guess we'll have to continue our search.'

'General, I…'

'That will be all Colonel,' Hammond interrupted Maybourne before he could put up another argument. 'Dismissed.'

Scowling, Maybourne saluted and led his team out of the 'gate room, Hammond nodding to a couple of SF's to make sure they all left the base.

'That felt good,' Hammond smiled briefly before continuing in a more serious tone. 'Unfortunately, I doubt that's the last we'll hear of Colonel Maybourne or the NID. Thanks for all your input on this one, folks. Dismissed.'

The 'gate room emptied, leaving only Cassie and Sergeant Brown behind.

'She'll be alright won't she?' Cassie asked the Sergeant anxiously.

'I'm sure she will. She let us know that before she left,' Sandra smiled at the girl, feeling a sense of relief that the work she had put into protecting Alysha had paid off, both for the child and herself in her new position at the SGC.

'The others were going to the mess hall, Jack said they were going to get cake. Coming?'

THE END

Hope you enjoyed it - feedback always appreciated.


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